The Lone Oracle

Chapter 5

"We should start with what we already know." Alex said. She had to admit, despite knowing about how Targent used to work, it was now lead by someone else; someone she knew of, but not much about.

"Well," Anthea said, "They seem to have particular groups, usually consisting of five to six people. They're scouting the village for something, most likely the Azran ruins. They work at night, suggesting they have somewhere set up nearby where they hide out during the day, so we should try to find that. What do you know about Swift?"

Sycamore piped up, "He was Bronev's right-hand man, often responsible for dispatching groups to Azran sites. He's smart too, I discovered a few years ago that he had a degree in archaeology, so he knows what to do when he finds the ruins."

This was the problem. Swift was most likely nearby, wanting to enter the ruins as soon as he found them. This meant the group had to act fast.

"I think I have an idea!" Anthea stated, her voice raised slightly, "We should have a few of us infiltrate their nearby base! We just need to ambush some of Targent's men and steal the uniform!"

The group stared at Anthea, and then at each other. Murmurs rose up from everyone at that point. Alex was skeptical about Anthea's plan.

"Anthea, as much as your plan sounds like it could work, we're dealing with Targent. It won't be as easy as you might think" she said. Apparently, she was the only person to think this.

"It's worth a shot, there's enough of us here to take one group and infiltrate. I say we do it!" Randall exclaimed, clearly excited with the plan.

***

Six people were chosen to infiltrate. These people were Alex, Anthea, Randall, Emmy, Marcus, and Clive. Henry, Angela, and Flora were tasked with looking out for a group of six Targent men to appear. Everyone else was sent with Eric to find any information about the possible location of the ruins.

Alex was wearing her gauntlets, preparing to create a barrier of rock once Targent appeared. She was still unsure about the plan, but since no one could think of anything else, she had no choice but to go along with it.

Eventually, a group of six Targent men appeared on the road. Alex noticed the signal given by Flora, and motioned for the ambush group to get ready. She moved her hands, her gauntlets giving off a faint glow and a rock wall rose from the ground. The men stopped in their tracks, startled by the sudden roadblock. Alex's gauntlets emmited another glow as a medium-sized flame appeared from one palm and a small jet of water from the other. Bringin her palms together, she created a huge cloud of steam, surrounding the men. She signalled for Emmy and Randall to head in, and not five minutes later the steam was gone and the men were unconscious.

Alex removed her gauntlets and climbed up the side of the building that Henry was in. He took the gauntlets from her, allowing her to jump down to change into Targent uniform.

The men were hidden in an alley, wearing nothing but their underwear. Anthea chuckled, it was amusing to see such intimidating people in such a state.

Marcus took the role of leader, appearing to be the most intimidating as he had an eyepatch. The others were ready to get going, and they moved out to find another group to tail. They found a place where multiple groups frequently appeared, and decided to wait there until they knew that Targent were heading back to their base. It would be a few hours, so they took turns to stay on watch from an alleyway looking onto the area. Randall and Clive stayed on watch first, allowing the others to sleep for a while.

***

What should've been a devastating accident was nothing of the sort. Araceli and her friends drifted to the floor of the cave without any damage whatsoever. This was no surprise to them, as they did it frequently. A boy no older than fourteen was the last to fall, landing somewhat unsteady compared to the others.